


Scars Not Physical

by SweetestHoney



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bucky Barnes Is a Good Bro, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Gen, M/M, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, They're so perfect for each other, but really, happy birthday Borkling, it's only Peter/Bucky if you squint, tbh I have no idea how to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24388762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetestHoney/pseuds/SweetestHoney
Summary: Tony Stark knows a lot of things, but something he was never prepared for is Peter Parker's friendship with one James "Bucky" Barnes.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Peter Parker, James "Bucky" Barnes/Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 7
Kudos: 388





	Scars Not Physical

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iamtherealbork](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamtherealbork/gifts).



> Happy Birthday my babie Borkling, I hope this is kind of what you were hoping for! And if not, whoops lol.

Tony Stark was not a man particularly dedicated to cultivating his patience, and most days he could be very easily accused of doing the exact opposite. He didn’t see much point in waiting for things, especially not when there was (usually) a better way to do whatever it was, in order to speed things along. 

But, unfortunately, one of the very few things he knew couldn’t be sped along was the process of healing from scars not physical, but from past trauma. He spent most of his life running away from his childhood, and then his parents’ death, and then Afghanistan, and then everything in New York, and then Ultron, and then – well. You get the point. Tony knew it was pointless to try to speed up or find a workaround for dealing with trauma. He’d tried with BARF, but it wasn’t a sure thing and while it helped a little, it wasn’t to the extent that good old fashioned therapy and time helped. 

Pepper, light of his life and mother of his daughter, made Tony go to therapy in the years after the snap; she insisted that he try to fix some of his broken parts, if only for the sake of being a better father than his own was. Tony fought it every step of the way, hating the idea of having to divulge how he felt to someone he didn’t know, but in the end, and really almost from the beginning, it was both different than he expected and more helpful than he hoped. He was, of course, a man of the future, and so he and Mona, his therapist, talked on video chat or via text more often than not, but even that worked more seamlessly than he anticipated. 

And, for a while, it was good. He worked on himself, built a family with Pepper, mourned everyone that had died in the snap, and more or less realized that time was fleeting and it was better to spend it with the people you loved than not. When everything with Thanos happened  _ again _ , that faith in his family and himself was shaken right to its core, but in the aftermath and weeks of recovery (he told Pepper he didn’t really remember much of it, but every time he recalled the pain he’d been in after the final battle he couldn’t help but shiver), he had his friends and his family to lean on, and that made all the difference. 

Which brings us to now, and the current crisis facing him – not the scariest thing he’d dealt with, but pretty freaking close. 

One Peter Parker sat on his living room couch, sound asleep. Wrapped around his lap, arms snugly tightened around the sleeping boy’s hips, was James Buchannan Barnes, also known as the Winter Soldier. Peter was asleep, but Barnes was  _ not,  _ and he glared at Tony from across the room, which he’d been doing since Tony walked through the doorway a few minutes previous. 

Tony knew better than to try to separate the two of them – once everything with Thanos was over, Tony finally got some time to talk with Peter, to apologize to him, and he’d learned about what Peter was dealing with while Tony was in a medically induced coma. Namely, that Peter took to Bucky Barnes right away, and the two of them were nearly inseparable by the time Tony was out of his hospital bed. He tried to warn Peter, to let him know what Barnes had done, but his protests of the man’s instability fell on deaf ears. 

Well, not deaf ears, exactly. Unlike Steve, who had both lied and hidden things from him, Peter at least didn’t try to pretend Bucky hadn’t done any of the things he’d done as the Winter Soldier. Bucky himself had told him, too burdened by guilt to let Peter befriend him without knowing everything he’d done, but still Peter insisted on being his friend. Peter never protested that Bucky hadn’t done any of the things he’d done as the Winter Soldier, but he did tell Tony to talk to Bucky, insisting that once he heard about how they’d messed with the man’s mind, he’d be more sympathetic. 

Tony, being the man he was, had instead complained to both Pepper and his therapist that Bucky stole Peter from him, and that he wasn’t sure how to save the boy from himself. Pepper and Mona both told him he was being an idiot (and Tony was everly grateful that he had two strong women in his life that were willing to tell him when he was being stupid – three, if you count Morgan) and suggested he talk to Bucky. 

When he decided that wasn’t going to happen, Tony instead did some light hacking and found video footage of the Winter Soldier’s programming. What he saw on those tapes was enough to make him physically ill, and Tony had to stop watching before he was halfway done, rubbing at the scars in his chest with an uneasy reminder of his own time in Afghanistan. 

So he’d dropped the subject, both with Pepper and with Peter, and instead focused on the best ways to make sure Peter wasn’t getting himself into too much trouble on the superhero front. Peter’s friendship with Bucky wasn’t as bad when Tony didn’t have to see it, so he gave them a whole floor of his tower to themselves, and Bucky at least mostly just kept to that floor, only venturing out when he was required on a mission. Tony also managed (with help from Mona, who he really owed his life over to tenfold) to secure some of the best mental health professionals on the planet, in every language that Bucky spoke, and asked Peter to make sure he talked with them. 

Peter had agreed eagerly, and at the silent longing in his face, Tony realized that none of them had really escaped any of their personal battles without some scars. When he made sure to pull a couple of the therapists aside and asked them to talk to Peter instead, they’d been a little surprised, but agreed without hesitation. 

Peter agreed to keep him apprised on how Bucky was doing, and he’d done so for the most part, eagerly updating Tony with everything he’d been given permission to share by Bucky. Tony got the feeling that the man knew and agreed with his worry about his and Peter’s friendship, and actually appreciated that Tony insisted he get help. 

As of Peter’s last update, it sounded like Bucky was doing well – he’d been able to work through a lot of the baggage he had both from Hydra and from the way Rogers had just up and left him. Tony spent a full week ranting to Mona about Rogers’ abrupt departure, about how he’d left his best friend alone in a century he didn’t know, and Mona had taken the yelling with more than a little smugness at Tony’s rage on Bucky’s behalf. 

Peter said Bucky was doing well; he’d been remembering to eat regularly and had even started compiling a list of all of the 20th and 21st century movies that he’d missed that he wanted to see. Tony had asked FRIDAY for access to the list and made some additions himself, of course, and he hoped the man enjoyed Tangled as much as Morgan had. 

As Tony watched Peter and Bucky, curled around each other on his couch, however, he wasn’t sure this was the same man who Peter had explained the week before had discovered baking and made three dozen cookies without realizing they’d have to be eaten. This Bucky Barnes was dangerous in a way that Tony wouldn’t have been able to explain if pressed – his whole body was tense, even as he wrapped himself around Peter’s chest, his head basically in the boy’s lap. 

Tony got the feeling that if he stepped wrong, the man would attack him, and so he stood, frozen, just watching the two of them. Bucky didn’t seem interested in hurting Peter, but Tony knew that could change in a heartbeat, and he couldn’t just leave them there like that. 

After a couple minutes, Peter stirred, his hands coming up to pay at Bucky’s head sleeping. 

“Huh? What’s up?” When he blinked his eyes open, he looked down at Bucky, still tense and in his lap more or less, and then looked around the room in confusion. His eyes landed on Tony, and Tony watched his eyes widen in understanding. 

Instead of being afraid, though, Peter just gave Tony a sad smile and ran a hand through Bucky’s hair. Bucky melted into the touch, letting his eyes close for a moment as he nudged his scalp into Peter’s palm. 

“He’s fine, he’s not dangerous or anything.” Peter’s voice was still sleepy, but he raised the hand not currently petting the Winter Soldier like he was a lap cat, and beckoned Tony over. “C’mere.” 

Tony went carefully, picking his steps with precision and stopping more than a few feet away from the couple on the couch. Peter frowned at him, but didn’t try to make him come closer. 

“He’s not – I was up here looking for a snack and he had a bad dream, so he came to find me.” Peter sounded matter of fact, and Tony frowned when he realized that the way Peter said it meant it probably wasn’t the first time it had happened. “He’s – when he gets bad dreams they tend to make him freak out, and having a physical anchor to the here and now helps.” Peter continued running his hand through Bucky’s hair, and the man seemed to slump forward, his posture loose now as his face pressed against Peter’s stomach. Peter’s other hand came up to brace him so he wouldn’t pitch off the couch, and Tony watched their interactions intently. 

After studying them for a few more moments, Tony finally spoke. “He’s – you didn’t see how he was looking at me when I came in.” Peter rolled his eyes and gave Tony an unimpressed look. 

“Yeah, I probably have seen it, but once he realizes who I am, he usually calms down.” He didn’t stop in his ministrations. Tony thought Bucky might start purring soon. 

“He’s – dangerous, Peter, you can’t just–” Peter’s eyebrows drew together and he shifted in his seat, clearly annoyed but unwilling to move away from the man laying against his lap. 

“He’s  _ not _ dangerous. He’s hurting, and I can help. There’s a difference.” Peter paused to take a breath before continuing. “You talk about him like he’s – an  _ animal, _ like he’s going to attack me out of nowhere or something, and it’s rude. He’s my friend, and I can help him be less scared of the world. What is wrong with that?” Peter jutted his chin out in a show of defiance that was only slightly belayed by his fingers finding a spot behind Bucky’s ears that made the man groan slightly, pressing his nose into Peter’s stomach harder and arching his neck into the touch. 

Tony sighed, rubbing at his temples. “I’m not saying you’re incapable, Peter, but – okay, why are you the one telling me this? Why can’t  _ Bucky _ explain to me just how normal and not threatening he is?” 

Peter flushed and looked down at his hands, still buried in Bucky’s hair. “He’s, uh, he doesn’t talk usually. When he’s like this... when he’s having a bad day. He said it’s hard to keep all the languages straight in his head at the best of times, and when he’s not feeling great he can’t manage it.” He looked up to Tony, his jaw still set. “But he’s not – he wouldn’t hurt me, not at all.” 

Tony was starting to believe that, actually, based on the way Bucky was responding to Peter’s hands running over his head, but he still frowned at Peter, uncertain. “He likes you right now, but what if he thought you were someone else? What then?” 

Peter shrugged, not making eye contact with him. “It’s happened before. He’s not – he doesn’t like most people. Usually he just wants to get away from someone if he doesn’t know who they are.” His hands stilled in Bucky’s hair and he looked up at Tony again. “I’m – he’s never hurt me, if that’s what you’re asking, even when he didn’t know who I was.” He paused, biting his lip. “And even if he did, I mean, I’m - I’m durable, it’s not like he could break me or anything.” 

Bucky, as if he was interested in contributing to the conversation, lifted his head and grunted, not looking at Tony, before burrowing back into Peter’s chest, making himself comfortable there. Peter looked at Tony as if to say ‘See?’ and Tony sighed before rolling his eyes. 

“Fine, just – tell him if he hurts you, I’ll hurt him. All that shovel talk stuff.” Tony turned to walk out of the room, stopping at the doorway to look back at Peter, who still sat covered in Winter Soldier on the couch, looking up at him. “And kid, I know your aunt probably already mentioned it, but you should be using protection even if neither of you can get pregnant.” 

Tony, hearing Peter’s indignant spluttering at his pronouncement, chuckled to himself and left the room before Peter could detangle himself from Bucky’s arms in order to run after him protesting it wasn’t like that. 


End file.
